Back in January of 2019, Joe Exotic was sentenced to 23 years in prison on murder for hire and animal cruelty charges.
Of course, it was only about six weeks ago that Joe became an international celebrity thanks to the breakout success of Tiger King, the Netflix documentary about his wild life and times.
So it should come as no surprise that Joe is attempting to capitalize on his newfound fame by requesting a presidential pardon from Donald Trump.
That may sound like a long shot, but it’s important to bear in mind that sucking up to celebrities and handing out presidential pardons to people who are clearly guilty are two of Trump’s favorite things.
During an April press conference, Trump suggested that he would consider pardoning Exotic.
While administration insiders later said it would never happen, it seems that mention was all the encouragement Joe and his supporters needed.
According to a new report from TMZ, Joe’s Fort Worth, Texas-based legal team has prepared a case file for Trump to review.
The lawyers are reportedly arguing that Joe is completely innocent of the allegation that he hired a hitman to kill Carole Baskin, his longtime professional rival.
They claim the animal cruelty charges were tacked on in order to make the jury hate Joe so that they would be more likely to convict him on the unrelated charge of trying to kill Carole.
Well aware that the president is a fan of pageantry and excess, the lawyers are not simply sending Trump the file via certified mail.
No, they’ve wrapped a bus with pro-Joe messages, and it seems they’re planning to drive it to the White House and make a public announcement on Mr. Exotic’s behalf.
"President Trump, please pardon Joe Exotic," one sign reads.
Another decal reads simply, "Team Tiger."
Their timing might be a little off, as pardoning a reality star during an election year in the midst of a public health crisis would be pretty bonkers even by Trump standards.
Then again, this might be exactly the sort of distraction the president needs right now.
Exotic will no doubt be mocked for this move, but when you’re facing a couple more decades behind bars, and you’ve got a potential sympathizer in the White House, you might as well swing for the fences!